EXAMPLES

RATING

ORIGIN

On 12 January 2016, President Obama delivered his final State of the Union address. Shortly thereafter, the above-reproduced image, purportedly depicting the Joint Chiefs of Staff giving the Commander-in-Chief the finger, began circulating.

Despite the image’s assertion that it is “not photoshopped,” the low resolution and choppy quality suggest otherwise. Putting aside the fact such a show of defiance at a major event would be newsworthy, no clips of the purported reaction of the Joint Chiefs showed evidence of such a display:

Multiple web sites claimed the Joint Chiefs were “attempting to send some sort of message,” but none adopted the far more compelling stance that the military leaders flipped their Commander-in-Chief the bird during his remarks on the strength of America’s armed services.

In a virtually identical captured photograph, the Joint Chiefs can be seen with their hands in the exact same positions — minus the rude gesture: